Another year has cycled which means another glorious NFL football season has commenced with the San Francisco 49ers playing the Kansas City Chiefs in the “Big Game” played in Las Vegas, NV. More importantly, it was an opportunity for the Brew Crew to gather to enjoy the game and to brew Red Zeppelin at Fieldpointe South. In attendance were Mark and myself.
Following one of the special festival worship services at First Evangelical – celebrating 175 years: est. 1849 (there are a number of them planned throughout this year – 2024), the group: 3 minus 1 – apparently Branden had something more important to do than watch football and brew with the best Fieldpointe has to offer. That’s his loss – he missed out on the fellowship, snacks – including second half shrimp*, and of course – beer.
Time Out! Was there no Bloody Mary bar? Of course there was. One round and then on with the show. The BMB has become part of the routine and would be amiss if not available. Consider it commonplace going forward.
I arrived to hear Alexa dutifully enlivening the Man Cave with Led Zeppelin hits. It has been a long while since I’v listened to a batch of Zepp and lost track of the number of good songs out there. Once Alexa ran her hit playlist dry there was a real treat – a double header if you will: an airing of Super Bowl XLV featuring the home state Green Bay Packers taking on the Pittsburg Steelers. Who knew this was on the agenda? Once again, the Pack pulled it off and came out on top. Fantastic! Not the best game played but the Pack did bring the Lombardy Trophy home – although briefly because there was another game to be played.
With the first game of the double header out of the way, attention was directed to Super Bowl LVIII. Apparently it is OK to skip a few and go from XLV directly to LVIII. I have to admit that this year’s game was very entertaining to watch – including overtime – which very seldom happens. What made it more enjoyable is that Helen and I took Mark down in our Top 10 predictions for the game. Hard to believe but there is someone out there who is a worse guesser than I am.
During the first game the second half shrimp* disappeared and during game 2 so did the chips and dip – but not the beer. (Mark was attempting to kick a keg but failed in his valiant effort. Perhaps he needs more practice.) To the rescue came Mark’s wife, Helen, with beef and bean chili followed by strawberry cake with fresh strawberries. This sustained us through the remainder of the event. Thanks Helen!
This year’s Super Brew Sunday featured a lighter beer – a red ale – different from past SBS brews. Mark was interested in a Red Ale so I pinged the AHA forum for a recipe which was slightly modified to make it uniquely Fieldpointe.
Time Out! Is there going to be no Dorothy Door Report? Of course there is. It’s still winter, although mild, but not mild enough to consider DD use other than to transfer spent grain from the Man Cave to the back 40 to feed the wildlife. Since it is still too cold for patio commiseration, the DDs are not needed at this time and primarily remain dormant – but soon it will be warm enough to give them a good workout.
Not sure how Red or Zeppelin this will be – haven’t brewed too many to get a handle on the style – especially the Zeppelin part. Nonetheless, it should be a lighter easy drinking beer which will be a nice offset to the darker heavier beers of winter – reminding us that Spring is just around the corner – or maybe not in Wisconsin. The Dorothy Doors may need to wait.
Red Zeppelin
Grains
- 8 lb – 2 Row
- 8 oz – Crystal 120
- 4 oz – Carafa I
Hops
- 1.5 oz – East Kent Goldings @ 60 minutes
Yeast
- Wyeast 1084 – Irish Ale
Anticipated Analysis
- OG – 1.045
- FG – 1.011
- Color – 17 SRM
- ABV – 4.5%
- Bitterness – 28 IBU
*Shrimp that was recently purchased and still frozen – needing until the second half of the game to thaw.